The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Vehicles including automobile sport utility vehicles, station wagons, mini-vans, cross-over vehicles, cargo vans and trucks often provide an access door, commonly known as a lift-gate door. Other similar door designs include hatchback doors, sliding doors and horizontally swinging doors. Although these door designs can be mounted differently, for simplicity, these door designs will hereinafter be summarized in reference to lift-gate doors. Lift-gate doors are frequently hinged along an upper horizontal surface, and latch adjacent to a flooring system of the automobile, commonly adjacent to the rear fender of the automobile. One or more latches can be used. The side edges of lift-gate doors are generally not hinged or physically connected to the vehicle structure or support posts at the rear of the vehicle. Motion of the vehicle therefore can result in “match-boxing”, or non-parallel deflection of the support posts relative to the squared sides of the lift-gate door. Match-boxing is undesirable for several reasons. First, side-to-side or non-parallel motion of support posts can impart additional vehicle noise, known as “chucking” at the lift-gate latch as the vehicle travels along rough or uneven surfaces. Second, unless a mechanism is positioned between the lift-gate door edge and the support posts of the vehicle, full structural allowance for the stiffness of the lift-gate cannot be used in the design of the support structure area.
In order to include the stiffness of the lift-gate door in the analysis and design of structural support posts, wedge type fittings have been used which slide to span the gap between the lift-gate door and the support post. These fittings reduce match-box deflection of the support posts by transferring some deflection load to the lift-gate door using a sliding wedge mechanism generally positioned between each support post and the lift-gate door. The sliding wedge mechanism can be fastened to either or both edges of the lift-gate door or to an edge of one or both of the support posts. In a further known design, a free sliding displaceable wedge is positioned against each lift-gate door side edge and a striker plate is separately mounted to each support post such that the sliding wedge engages the striker plate and displaces relative to the lift gate door to limit match-boxing between the support posts.
Existing designs of polymeric striker assemblies have several drawbacks. When molded, part cooling often results in shrinkage which distorts the striker and prevents proper engagement between the striker and the vehicle component. In some applications, existing fittings are present, which require removal of material of the striker to avoid. This increases mold cost and can decrease part strength. Existing striker designs may also not accommodate sufficient clearance to allow the opposed wedge assembly to freely clear the striker during travel of the lift gate door when wedge engagement is not desirable.